Suppose for a moment that I am a visitor with a background in eastern mysticism. I am been studying all the religions of the world, and I want to know more about your God of the American culture. The question I am most interested in is this. Since you all claim to be a Christian, what is your God like? How will you answer?
There are two ways God has revealed Himself to the world.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
- Natural revelation (creation, Romans 1:20).
Since the creation of the world, two invisible attributes or characteristics of God have been on display for all the world to see:
(1) God’s awesome power, and
(2) His divine nature in relationship to creation (faithfulness, Gen 8:21-22; kindness and graciousness, Acts 14:17).
Natural revelation argues that creation demands a Creator; design demands a Designer. Creation was not the result of some impersonal force of nature but the power of a living Person. Without excuse means their condemnation was not based upon rejecting Christ but sinning against the light they had been given.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
- Supernatural revelation (the Scriptures, 2 Tim 3:16-17)
According to Josh McDowell (Evidence That Demands a Verdict series), “…. the most misunderstood term in the world is the term for God. I am convinced that at the heart, first of all with Christians, at the heart of most spiritual problems is the misconception of who God is in His basic nature. In fact, I would say much of religious heresy is the result of a misunderstanding of the basic nature of God. And once we have a proper understanding of God, then usually most of the areas of our life coincide with who God is and what He desires for each one of us” (www.josh.org). This is a Christian worldview.
As never before in our American culture, exposition and exegesis of Scripture are being replaced by existentialism – truth is what we make of it. This idea is nothing new and clearly seen during the time of the Judges in Israel (Jdg 21:25). The Israelites did not have a man king to keep them in check, but they had the Law of Moses which they disregarded for what was right in their own understanding (reason over revelation).
Herein is an observable truth. A low view of Scripture will invariably result in a low view of God; conversely, a high view of Scripture will inevitably result in a high view of God. Consider Tozer’s statement in his book, Knowledge of the Holy,
“Man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.”
If we take that statement to a more personal level it would be this; a believer’s life will positively demonstrate that no spiritual testimony has ever been greater than his or her idea of God. Where do our ideas of God come from anyway? They come from general revelation (creation) and special revelation (the Word of God).
It is, therefore, of paramount importance and incumbent upon every believer to form his or her idea of God from the only safe and reliable source given to man, the Scriptures (2 Tim 3:15, 16, 17), and not from imaginations, feelings, or through the five senses of experiences that may run in another direction.
Any theologies or humanistic philosophies that reduce God to the creation level, animate or inanimate, challenges God’s existence, or extols and elevates man over God are to be rejected. Our ideas about God should never be based on reason over revelation without running a real risk of the chastening hand of God and the loss of His blessings upon our lives.
Our manner of life will reflect our view of God whether it is of the Word or of the world. Even though we may claim to have a high view of Scripture and a right view of God, such acknowledgment does not produce a life that is pleasing to God unless we personally submit to the authority of the Scriptures in the matter of salvation (Mt 7:13; Jn 14:6) and in the matters of faith and practice as a rule of life.
Christ-likeness can never be achieved by a fractured view of God that comes from reason contrary to Scripture and a cafeteria-styled obedience of what to regard and what to reject. Only from the Scriptures is the revelation of God in Jesus Christ revealed and His values learned for a life that is pleasing to God.
Our belief and behavior are to be of equal weight before the Lord (Col 1:10). If our thoughts of God are too human, it is because we have turned from the truth of Scripture by trading revelation for reason which might explain the imbalance in our lives, the lack of peace, and the absence of spiritual blessings that follow when our lives are governed by reason rather than revelation, the Word of God. <><
God method of revealing Himself to man is inscripturated revelation, not existentialism or any other vain philosophy. Only spiritual experiences in the life of a believer that are in harmony with God’s Word are worthy of taking note; any spiritual experiences contrary to the Bible should be considered suspect and avoided.
Our understanding of God determines our worldview or outlook on the world; how we personally interact with the world as a whole, affecting every area of our life. Our worldview is like a pair of glasses in which we see the world and live out our purpose as we understand it. It is a belief system embraced and acted upon, naturalism verses supernaturalism, for instance. Some derivatives of naturalism are moral relativism, existentialism, pragmatism, and utopianism.
God’s attributes are usually divided among theologians into two categories: incommunicable (transcendence) and communicable (immanence) attributes. A simpler way to see the distinction in His attributes that incommunicable attributes are unique to God alone and does not share with us, and the communicable attributes are those He shares with us to some extent. In Genesis 1:26 God said,
Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
Being in God’s image means that we were designed to share in God’s communicable attributes in a limited and imperfect way (God is infinite; we are finite). Like God we possess intellect, will, and emotion and have the ability to reason though the image was defaced by sin.
We have been mentioning the word “attribute.” When we refer to God’s attributes it doesn’t mean a part of God.
- An attribute is something that is true of God in His character and nature. When God is loving He is simply being Himself. He is not part love; God is love (1 Jn 4:8).
- When God acts justly in judgment this doesn’t mean He ceases to be all loving. When we think of God we must not think of Him separate from His other qualities; God’s attributes are infinitely integrated in His being. God does not cease to be a God of love because sinners are consigned to hell.
- A.W. Tozer in his book Knowledge of the Holy lists 18 attributes of God. Because God is infinite there are endless attributes of God not revealed in the Scriptures. The ones that are revealed are ostensibly the ones God wants for us to know about Him. The shared attributes of God (such as truth, wisdom, love, holiness, justice, grace, mercy) are the ones we are expected to pattern our lives accordingly, to be holy as God is holy (1 Pet 1:16, our inner life and outer walk being conformed to God’s will).
As we address what is God like in the context of Billy Graham’s discussion in Peace With God, there is an inherent difficulty. It is called the incomprehensibility of God; God is incomprehensible. Because we are finite and God is infinite, it is impossible for a limited being to fully understand an infinite Being. There are many things revealed in Scripture that we can learn about God but to understand Him in an absolute sense is impossible.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! Romans 11:33
Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? Job 11:7
We think in 3-D (L x W x H); but infinity has no boundaries. We see beginnings and ends; infinity has neither. It is simply nothing short of mind-boggling. God is infinite.
In spite of this “vast” difference between God and man, God wants to be known of man. So God goes through this tremendous effort, humanly speaking, to reveal Himself through natural and supernatural revelation.
Most of what we know of God is based on a negative perspective. For example, God is absolute holiness. When we are commanded to be holy as God is holy, we think of not sinning against God; and that would be right. But God is absolute holiness and cannot sin. It is impossible for us to relate to sinless or absolute purity because sinning is all we have ever known; we are sinners saved by grace. We have never been sinless; so it’s virtually impossible for us to relate to how God is holy other than He commands us to stay away from sin.
How do we as finite creatures understand eternity? I like the way one man described it – 4 blondes at a four way stop sign! Seriously though, how do we relate to God being eternal, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, and immutable? We are temporal; we can only be at one place at a time; we don’t know everything; we are weak; and we change constantly. I like the way Josh McDowell define some of these attributes. For example,
Omnipotent = He can do it.
Omnipresent = He is here (there is no point nearer to God than any other point, experience not position).
Omniscient = He knows.
Immutable = He never changes. (Josh McDowell, Ibid)
Can you see how we can take the unique attributes of God and make use of them in our lives in every situation!
Let me list some of the attributes of God as a matter of course with limited scriptural references.
- Some incommunicable or unique attributes or characteristics of God
- Eternal, Ps 90:2; 102:12
- Omnipresence, Ps 139:7-8; Jer 23:24
- Omniscience, Prov 15:3; 1 Chron 28:9; Ps 139:2; Jn 21:17
- Omnipotence, Gen 17:1; Rev 19:6; Is 42:5
- Immutable, Mal 3:6; Ps 33:11; Heb 1:12; 13:8; Ja 1:17
- Sovereign, Dan 4:35; Job 42:2; Ecc 7:13-14; Rom 8:28; Ps 104
- Triune, Deu 6:4; 1 Cor 8:6
- Infinity, 1 Kg 8:27; Ps 40:5; 145:3; Acts 17:24
- Self-existent (aseity), Gen 1:1; Ex 3:14; Ps 90:2; Rom 11:36; 1 Cor 8:6; Col 1:16-17; Jn 1:1-3; Jn 5:26; Acts 17:25; Dan 4:35
- Spirit, Jn 4:24
- Some communicable or shared attributes or characteristics of God
- Holy, Ex 3:3-5; Lev 19:2; Josh 5:13-15; Is 6:1-6: 1 Jn 1:5
- Love, Ps 103:17; 1 Jn 4:8, 16
- Faithful, 2 Tim 2:13; Lam 3:22-23
- Merciful, Ex 3:7; Ps 86:15; 145:9
- Just, Deu 32:4
- Righteous, Gen 18:25
- Gracious, Ex 34:6; Eph 1:5-8; Jn 1:16; 1 Jn 4:8
- Truthful, Jn 14:6; 17:3
- Goodness, Ja 1:17; Mt 5:45
<><<><<><<><<><<><<><
Let’s briefly talk about those things discussed by Billy Graham in his section of “What is God like?”
- God is spirit.
- God is a person.
- God is holy.
- God is love.
1. God is spirit.
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. Jn 4:24
No one has seen God at any time (no man has see God in His essential nature). Jn 1:18a
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 1 Tim 1:17
Who [God] alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen. 1 Tim 6:16
By faith he [Moses] forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. Heb 11:27
- God does not have a physical body.
- God is invisible and cannot be seen with the naked eye.
- No man has seen God in His essence.
- The Bible records theophanies or manifestations of God in the OT (cf. Gen 18; 32; Ex 13; 24; 33; et cetera).
- Any attempt by man to picture God as similar to His creation is strictly forbidden and an affront to Him, Exodus 20:3-5,
You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved
image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor
serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God….
- The greatest manifestation of God to man was in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. Heb 1:3 ESV
And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. NASB
Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power. NKJV
- The knowledge that God is Spirit reminds us that the most important things in life are not seen, 2 Cor 4:18,
While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
- God is not an impersonal force but a living person.
<><<><<><<><<><<><<>< 2
2. God is a person.
- God is referred to as a He not an It. He is not a force or energy but a person; God has personality. God referred to Himself in Scripture as “I.” He is a personal being.
And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." Ex 3:14a
But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. Jer 10:10a
- Because God is Spirit, the Holy Spirit use a figure of speech that helps us to better relate to God in human terms, it is called anthropomorphism describing God in human terminology.
“The Old Testament writers speak of God as talking, hearing, seeing, smelling, breathing, and whistling. They speak of God as having a heart, a face, eyes, ears, nostrils, hands, legs, feet, and arms. He walks; He goes to war. They speak of God as loving, hating, pleading, condemning, weeping, laughing, comforting, and caring.” JM
- God is caring, loving, and personal.
So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Ex 33:11
In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears. Ps 18:6
He delivered me because He delighted in me. Ps 18:19
- God the Son seeks a personal relationship with us.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. Rev 3:20
<><<><<><<><<><<><<>< 3
3. God is Holy.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up,
and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six
wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!" And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts. Isaiah 6:1-5
A. The Bible calls God holy more than any other attribute; it is consider the crown of God’s attributes even though all of God’s attributes are infinite and interwoven. It refers to His majesty and His absolute more perfection; God is without sin.
In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Mt 6:9
Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all
nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been
manifested. Rev 15:4
B. God is first referred to as the Holy One in the oldest book of the OT, Job 6:10.
C. Holiness means separateness, in particular being separated from sin. God’s holiness sets Him apart from His creation. God is sinless; we are sinners. Unless we understand God’s holiness, we will never understand our own sinfulness.
No one is holy like the LORD. 1Sam 2:2
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is
light and in Him is no darkness at all. 1 Jn 1:5
"Be holy, for I am holy." 1 Pet 1:16
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
Heb 12:4
Holiness is used of believers in three different ways in the NT
· Positional holiness (positional sanctification). We are set apart to God from the world through faith in Christ (1 Cor 1:2; 6:11).
· Practical holiness (progressive sanctification). We are to separate ourselves from every form of evil (1 Th 5:23). This is becoming more Christ-like (2 Pet 3:18).
· Perfect holiness (ultimate sanctification). This takes place when a believer goes to heaven and is glorified.
What holiness do we pursue? Obviously, it is practical holiness (or sanctification), not for salvation but for spiritual growth. We must cultivate holiness continually on a daily basis. Practical holiness is proof of a changed life. Practical holiness doesn’t save anyone; it is only evidence that the Holy Spirit indwells a believer, and the believer is growing in holiness in obedience to God’s Word.
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 1 Jn 3:2-3
<><<><<><<><<><<><<>< 4
4. God is love.
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 Jn 4:8
- “Love is the best known but least understood of all God’s attributes.” JM
- This love is known as agape love, God’s love.
- Agape love only enters the heart upon salvation, Rom 5:5.
- The practicality of love is defined in 1 Cor 13. Love is the greatest of virtues (v.13).
- Agape love gives the best that it has, Jn 3:16.
- Agape loves the unlovely,
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. Rom 5:8
- Agape love takes the initiative,
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one
another. 1 Jn 4:10-11
- Agape love sacrifices for others,
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him. 2 Cor 5:21
- God’s love is infinite, perfect, and interwoven with His absolute holiness. Neither attribute contradicts the other. This is where many misunderstand the love of God and attempt to separate the holiness of God from the love of God as if they were incompatible. This is the idolatry we spoke of in the beginning, to create an image of God that fits our understanding rather than embracing the image of the God of the Bible. God who is holy, just, righteous, and love, never violates His essence. God punishes sin and forgives sin. God is love; God is holy. If God forgave a sinner would God be all holy? If God consigned someone to hell would God be all love? The answers to both questions are yes. When God acts in holiness His essence is unchanged; when God acts in love His essence is unchanged. God is immutable.
- God cannot love us any more or any less. His love is unconditional.
- That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph 3:17-19
<><<><<><<><<><<><<><Closing Remarks
What is your God like? If He is anything other than what the Bible reveals God to be, you have a false god. Are your thoughts of God too human? If you have a misconception of who God is in His basic nature, most of your spiritual problems can be traced back to a wrong image of God. God posed this question in Amos 3:3,
Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
We cannot have an improper understanding of God and expect to walk with God along the straight and narrow road in Christlike behavior. Christlike behavior is built upon the revelation of God in the Scriptures. A believer’s life will positively demonstrate that no testimony has ever been greater than his or her idea of God.
